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THE REAL WORLD
four hours and forty minutes
REGULUS FIDDLED WITH the family ring on his left ring finger. His mother had told him to put it there. Until he was married, his first priority was them.
Senara waited. Either for him to kill her or to speak again. She had nowhere to go.
"Have you ever played exploding snap?" he asked and he was met with a confused look. "Stupid question."
He looked at a rock on the side of the island, pointed his wand at it and in an instant, a small pack of orange and red cards were in its place. He leaned over and reached it -- the island was small enough to do that.
He explained the rules and dealt the cards, helping her along the way by showing his hand. If his brother was present, then he would say Regulus was acting so not like himself. But his brother wasn't present and Regulus wasn't himself.
The lovely thing about Senara not knowing anything, was that Regulus could be anyone he wanted to be. She did not expect anything of it nor he of her.
And that was something he'd never known until he saw the starlight in her eyes.
She laughed hysterically as the cards exploded to life when she made a wrong move and at how good Regulus was and she was not.
It only made sense, he'd been in the real world. The world where he could play exploding snap with his brother.
"What's it like out there?" she asked as she put down a card.
"Out where?" he asked as he focused on the game.
"You know," she replied. "Out there."
He looked up and saw her staring at the edge of the cave. The night sky was not visible, but perhaps it was best that it wasn't. The Sirius star flew high tonight, shining its daunting beauty on everyone.
"Miserable," he replied. "But, also, in small moments, worth it."
"Worth it?" she asked.
"You're trudging through the mud at an attack site and you're sick to your stomach because this is something you caused," he explained. "But then sometimes you see the golden sunlight reflecting on the pools in their ... innocent, ethereal beauty and you're reminded of better times. Times when you might be able stomach saying that you're a good person."
"You've hurt people?" she asked.
"Too many," he whispered. "I've killed too. You never forget the face, but it's your life or theirs and I'm selfish."
Senara didn't speak, she only hummed as she shifted on the rocks. She looked up from her cards. She was clearly going to lose, again, but Regulus had some sort of faith in her.
"I believe you were selfish," she said quietly. "But I do not believe you are selfish right now."
"No?" he asked with a bitter laugh. "I'm putting off my fate, so I can cling to some sort of hope."
"You're helping someone know what living is like before they meet their demise," she corrected. "You are giving me something to miss, which is cruel, yes, but also wonderful. Because is it better to have lived and died than to have never lived at all?"
